Ring binders



Mar h 22, 1955 3. K. SLONNEGER RING BINDERS Filed July 12, 1954 IN VENr012 (SH/6f If. 51 WWI/E65? 19/5 A TTGRNE Y United States Patent RINGBINDERS Bruce K. Slonneger, Dayton, Ohio Application July 12, 1954,Serial No. 442,533

Claims. (Cl. 129-1) This invention relates to improvements in bindersand particularly ring-binders.

Inside the covers of ring-binders shallow pockets are generally providedin which cards, loose papers and the like may be placed. If such aring-binder is not carefully handled the contents of these pockets spillout and may be lost for there is nothing about the pockets that willretain their contents if the binder is carried improperly.

It is, therefore, among the objects of the present invention to providea ring-binder having a pocket inside the front and back covers thereof,the inside flap of each pocket having provisions for detachably securingit to the adjacent rings of the binder. This substantially closes thepocket and prevents the contents from spilling out regardless of how thebinder is handled.

The usual ring-binder has its front and back covers made of an opaquematerial such as card-board, leather or a plastic. This requirescaptions or pictures identifying the contents of the binder to bestamped, printed or pasted on the binder cover and therefore limits theuse of this particular binder to such material unless the originalcaption or picture is removed, which ordinarily would deface the coverand render the binder unfit for use.

Therefore, another object of the present invention is to provide aring-binder having front and back covers made of any suitabletransparent material, each cover having an inner sheet attached thereto,forming a pouch or pocket into which may be inserted any desirable titlesheet or picture. The transparent covers render these sheets clearlylegible, thus not only identifying the contents of the binder, but alsoadding a decorative effect to the binder.

When the front and back covers of the binder of a transparent materialsuch as plastic, it is desirable for decorative and utility purposes toprovide an opaque backing strip within the binder which will cover andhide the rings and their supporting member when the binder is closed.This provides another advantage inasmuch as said opaque backing stripmay be of a selected color, as for instanceAir Force blue, therebydistinguishing the particular binder as especially dedicated to AirForce use. If the colored, opaque backing strip is extended to continuearound the respective edges of the binder, a visible frame for any titlesheet or picture within the transparent cover is provided.

Further objects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription of the invention, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an inside view of a fully opened ring-binder equipped with thepresent invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of a closed binder.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary sectional view showing a grommetedorifice in a plastic sheet.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing a grommeted opening through a doubleplastic sheet.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged end view of the binder shown in Fig. 1, one pocketflap being shown free of the binderrings.

Fig. 6 is an end view of the closed binder, and

Fig. 7 is a magnified sectional view of separable attaching means fordetachably securing two sheets toether. g For purposes of thisdescription the binder cover will Patented Mar. 22, 1955 be consideredas being made of a pliable, transparent plastic, parts of the binderbeing secured together by the well known electro-thermal sealingprocess. It is to be understood that leather, paper or any othersuitable sheet material may be used instead of the plastic, in whichcase parts would be secured together by stitching, gluing or any othersuitable process.

Referring to the drawings, the back and front covers of the binder aremade of a single sheet 20, of plastic trimmed to the desired size, thetop and bottom edges thereof being referred to by the letters T and Brespectively and the end edges by the letter B. Midway between edges E,an opaque backing or reenforcing strip 21, of plastic material, issealed to the cover sheet 20 along the area defined by the dot-dashlines SS and along the edges T and B between said lines SS, or areasdefined by said lines. Strip 21 is of predetermined width and like thesealing areas SS extends from cover edge T to cover edge B. It ispreferably opaque and may be of any desirable color, hiding thebinder-rings when the folder is closed and providing the folder with aback face 22 and adjacent areas of a chosen color showing through thetransparent cover sheet. This strip 21 may have an extension of desiredwidth, referred to by the letter P, which when sealed to the cover sheet20 along the dot-dash line at its edges, forms a framing border on saidcover. Another plastic strip 23, preferably the same size as strip 21,is sealed to strip 21 along the areas defined by the dot-dash lines SS,a longitudinal area between said areas SS being unattached to form apocket for receiving and holding the attachment plate 24, which may bemade of any suitable stiff material, preferably metal and has means forrigidly securing the member 26 carrying the binder-rings 25.

A feature of the present invention is the provision of means at the freeedges or flaps of the pocket forming sheets inside the binder cover, bywhich said flaps may be secured to the rings of the binder, therebysubstantially closing the pocket. Figs. 1 and 5 show two sheets 30 and31, preferably of transparent plastic, attached to the inside of thebinder cover to form pockets therein on each side of the binder rings25. The top, bottom and end edges of these sheets are attached to thecover sheet along its respective edges T, B and E, specifically alongthe dot-dash lines shown in Fig. l, by the electrothermal sealingprocess. As previously stated, it may be desirable to provide a coloredframe or border of desirable width about the binder cover either front,back, or both, in which case a strip P of colored plastic is interposedbetween sheets 30 and 31 and sealed between said sheets.

The respective inside edges of sheets 30 and 31, alongside the binderrings 25 are not sealed to the cover sheet 20, thus these sheets 30 and31 form open pouches or pockets inside the binder cover. Ordinarily aconstruction of this kind permits buckling of the free edge or flap ofthe pocket upon closing of the binder. Contents of the pockets will alsotend to spill out if the binder is not handled properly. To preventthis, the present invention provides means at the free edge of eachsheet 30 and 31, said means being removably attachable to the binderrings 25, thereby eliminating buckling and substantially closing thepocket and preventing spilling of the contents no matter how the binderis handled. To secure these sheets to the rings 25 grommeted openingsare provided which fit over the respective rings. A reenforcing strip 33is sealed to the sheets 30 and 31 to prevent tearing through repeateduse. Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate grommeted open ings 34 and 35 formed in asingle or reenforced sheet respectively, said grommet-like, strengthenededges of the openings being formed during the piercing and sealingoperation of these sheets.

For certain uses, it may be desirable releasably to attach one, two orall three edges of sheets 30 and 31 to the cover sheet 20, therebypermitting the releasable edges of said sheets to be detachedtemporarily from said cover sheet. A well known interfitting tongue andgroove construction as shown in Fig. 7, may be used for this purpose. Ifall three edges T, B and E of sheets 30 and 31 are to be detachablysecured to the cover sheet 20, said sheet 20 is provided with aplurality of spaced ribs 41 and the sheets 30 and 31 with similar ribs42. The ribs of one sheet when alined with and pressed into the ribspaces in the cover sheet detachably secure these sheets togetherproviding a leakproof seal. This interlock of the ribbed sheets can notordinarily be broken. To separate the sheets without damage they shouldbe peeled apart longitudinally of the ribs. To effect interlock the ribsof one should be placed in alinement with the spaces between the ribs ofthe other sheet and then by pressure of a finger on the one sheet alongits ribbed area, the ribs are ironed into interlocking relation.

Thus the present invention provides a folder or binder having pockets inits cover secured against buckling or the spilling of the contentsthereof. Also a binder having a transparent cover provided with innerpockets into which title sheets or pictures may be inserted whichclearly show from outside the binder. A sealed, inner colored sheetprovides the binder with a selected colored back face and a title sheetor picture framing border for identification and decorative purposes.

What is claimed is as follows;

1. A binder consisting of a single cover sheet; a strip of materialsecured across said cover sheet from one side to the other andintermediate its ends, said strip forming a longitudinal pocket betweenit and said cover sheet; a stiff mounting member in said pocket; a ringbinder supporting plate on said strip and secured to said mountingmember; and two pocket forming, inner sheets, one on each side of thesaid plate, each inner sheet having its three outer edges secured to theadjacent cover sheet along its edges, the free edge portion of eachinner sheet adjacent the ring binder being perforated to fit over andreceive the respective rings of the ring binder.

2. A binder according to claim 1, in which the free 4 edge of each innersheet, adjacent the ring binder, has a reenforcing strip attachedthereto, said reenforced edge portion of the inner sheet beingperforated to fit over and receive the respective rings of the ringbinder.

3. A binder according to claim 1, in which each one of the two innersheets has certain of the three outer edges thereof releasably securedto the cover sheet along its adjacent edges, the inner free edge of eachinner sheet, adjacent the ring supporting plate, being provided withmeans operative detachably to secure said free edge to the respectiverings of the binder.

4. A binder consisting of a single cover sheet of transparent material;a strip of opaque material extending across and secured to the coversheet from one side thereof to the other and intermediate its ends; asecond strip of material secured to said opaque strip to form alongitudinal pocket therebetween; a stiff mounting plate in said pocket;a member on said second strip, rigidly attached to said mounting plate,said member carrying a plurality of binder rings adapted to be openedand closed; two inner, pocket forming sheets, one on each side of saidmember, three edges of each pocket forming sheet being attached to thecover sheet along its adjacent edges; and means provided at the inneredge of each pocket forming sheet, operative detachably to secure therespective pocket forming sheet to the binder rings.

5. A binder in accordance with claim 4, in which at least two edges ofthe pocket forming sheets are detachably secured to the cover sheet andthe inner edge of said pocket forming sheet has a reenforcing stripattached thereto, said strip providing means for detachably securing thesheet to the rings of the binder.

No references cited.

